When does hunting become too easy?

[NaturesRespect]

I believe when you hunt its all about being outdoors such as sleeping in tents building a fire to keep warm, hunting from tree stands, and such and such. Alot of my friends try to go all out to get the easyest set up. Such things are tower stands enclosed inside a insulated box with a heater, ATV's for driving to the stand and back to camp, nice warm cabins to sleep in, anything at all possible to make it that much easyer. I think its a joke, hunting is not supose to be easy, in my sense is if you truly think hunting out of a tower stand inside a insulated box with a heater and its 70 degrees in their, your not truly a outdoorsman. I would not mind having an ATV but sometimes the old rope and muscle system to move downed game works plus you are truly challenging your limits. One said i have a shooting lane that i clear cut all the way down to 200 yards so i can get a better shot, I think thats just cheap and ruins the true meaning of hunting.

These are just my opinions but it bugs me when people complain about hunting when they have the most accessories to make it so easy, I always say its not supose to be easy when hunting thats the point of it.

what do you guys think is being too easy when hunting? Im talking about when ppl go out of their way to make it too easy to hunt or stay warm and make things too easy that the hunting part just dosnt sound as meaningful anymore.

[pulleye16]

We all have opinions and I respect yours so I won't comment or argue with your feelings on "easy hunting"... I feel alot of bickering will become of this but we'll see...

For me, to easy when hunting would be FULLY guided hunts where THEY do all the work and I'D just have to pull the trigger. Not saying I'd never use a guide (great for fishing on new lakes or helping you learn how to hunt a big game animal you've never hunted before) but it would be an "easIER hunt" . I think they're a great resource of knowledge.

Now no smacking me Guides, I think your great and i'd love to be one and help out fellow hunters who either don't have the time or have special needs that don't allow them to spend hours upon hours learning hunting tactics.

p.s. this thread is going to get ugly! LOL

[NaturesRespect]

you guys can bash me on this as well.... When i hunt i will sleep in a tent, build a fire, hunt in blaze orange jacket and bib overalls to stay warm, boots and wool socks, hat and gloves if its colder than a typical november day, hunt from stand with no shooting lanes, no bait ofcourse, i will use grunt, bleat, rattling calls. thats all nothing much to it plain and simple although when i was in 4th grade we had a prpane heater to keep warm since it was my very first hunt

also if available a game cart other than that i will just drag my downed game up and down steep hills down south eastern MN

[nonteepical]

you make hunting/fishing what you want it to be. if you want to rough it, go for it. if you want it "easy", more power to you. it's your experience.

[pulleye16]

good for you! I got it on your the first thread.

[mixxedbagg]

There are big bucks to be made selling hunters and fishermen every possible convenience--and there are plenty of customers willing to accommodate. Gotta have a $300 hunting coat. Gotta have 8 different kinds of heaters. Gotta have decals for the truck. Gotta have a bunch of electronics. There are guys that have all of that stuff and get in the field a week a year. Working overtime to pay for toys isn't my idea of being an outdoorsman, yet there are plenty of people in debt for wheelers, sleds, trucks, trailers, a huge boat, etc...do what you want, but for me, I'd rather not have a bunch of stuff between me and the experience. Sure, I have some stuff, but it definitely ain't much. Anymore, walking into a Gander Mountain or Cabelas doesn't feel a whole lot different than walking into a Bed, Bath, and Beyond...mostly stuff I can't afford and wouldn't need even if I could.

[WaitForIt]

I feel a little hypocritical responding to this thread.. as I've certainly bought my share of goodies designed to make life easier when hunting.. yet I scoff at guys sitting in heated blinds, using rangefinders, sitting over bait piles, etc.

I guess at the end of the day, whatever gets you afield and hunting legally go for it. Personally I like to work at it and suffer a little

[deerminator]

It's all about your personal preferences, period. The only thing that is too easy is poaching or shooting deer inside a pen. Neither of those is hunting. But if you want to do the latter, then I guess its legal. As far as guided hunts, I hope to get the chance to do one sometime. And I don't think all are gaurenteed sure shots. Or that anyone with no hunting skills can just go and bag a monster buck. In fact, I think many guided hunts are tough as heck to score on and the guide who knows the terrain how the animals move is the deciding factor. That's what you're paying for. You're still runnning like heck up a steep slope, panting away, rocks giving way under your feet to get in position to make a quick 50 yard shot on a bull elk at dusk. I guess that's easy by some accounts since the guide is there but not by mine.

[lakevet]

"No matter how young a sportsman is, if he (she) has a healthy mind, he will not long take pleasure in any method of hunting in which somebody else shows the skill and does the work so that his share is only nominal. The minute that sport is carried on in these terms it becomes a sham and a sham is always detrimental to all who take part in it."

Theodore Roosevelt

[machohorn]

I hunt easy, I hunt hard, 10 days in Wyoming hunting elk, ( you think a deer is hard to drag up a mn hill! But after doing it for close to 40 years I kind of like a little comfort. To me it is not so much about how hard or easy you have it while hunting, it's being out there taking notice of those thing you normally do not notice everyday. Like how quiet a woods can be when it snows, a lone grouse sneaking along,or playing hide and seek behind a tree with a pine martin, watching other hunters walk right on by you in your tree stand thinking they have the woods all to theirselves. trying to find the perfect fallen tree to do your morning duty over. Hunt hard now and you will respect the outdoors the rest of your life, thats the way I started out.

[PurpleFloyd]

To me it gets harder every year. My knee is getting worse, my back is not like it used to be and to that end I have and will increasingly rely on adapting what I do to continue to enjoy hunting as long as i can. I now have a UTV that I use to get me to places I used to walk and I have a relative that takes his brush mower and cuts a path through his slough so that there is an easier trail for me to walk through. It still isn't easy but it is manageable for me and it keeps me going out there.

I have never hunted from a stand but my son is going to be able to go out with me this season for the first time and I am contemplating a blind or other enclosure that we can sit in and share the hunt. Still won't be easy but it might take some of the bite out and make it more enjoyable.

[NaturesRespect]

I hunt easy, I hunt hard, 10 days in Wyoming hunting elk, ( you think a deer is hard to drag up a mn hill! But after doing it for close to 40 years I kind of like a little comfort. To me it is not so much about how hard or easy you have it while hunting, it's being out there taking notice of those thing you normally do not notice everyday. Like how quiet a woods can be when it snows, a lone grouse sneaking along,or playing hide and seek behind a tree with a pine martin, watching other hunters walk right on by you in your tree stand thinking they have the woods all to theirselves. trying to find the perfect fallen tree to do your morning duty over. Hunt hard now and you will respect the outdoors the rest of your life, thats the way I started out.

thats true. thats the reason i love the outdoors because its my escape from siciety and the every day life you live. I love how you said hunt hard now and you will respect the outdoors the rest of your life. I agree with you 100%

[Bear55]

you make hunting/fishing what you want it to be. if you want to rough it, go for it. if you want it "easy", more power to you. it's your experience.

I agree, hunting is what you make of it. Do what you want and have some fun, the less I worry about what others do the more fun I have.

[picksbigwagon]

+1 Bear, My way is not the only way and I respect other people's way of hunting

[MN_Pilot]

+1 Bear, My way is not the only way and I respect other people's way of hunting

+2 As long as I can enjoy the outdoors...I'm happy. What other poeple do doesn't really concern me unless they're hurting my or anyone else's experience.

[LightningBG]

It's a tough call. What is easy hunting? A heated enclosure 15 ft in the air does seem easy for sure, but where does one draw the line. I guess its personal. We all use items that 50 or 100 years ago would have seemed like the easy way to do it. Scopes, compound bows, ladder stands, climbers. Scents that can be bought at the local sports store. Semi-auto rifles. Thermal underwear. but I surely don't want to be out there with wool pants, leather boots and a musket, so to each his/her own. Do what makes you happy and have respect for the land, enjoy yourself and be grateful for what you have.

[Bear55]

Also remember your own opinions can and do change with age. Right now I'm young and it's nothing to hike back a mile or two to get a deer. When I am in my 70's that probably isn't going to happen and I might enjoy a warm cabin and a nice heated stand.

[FishingWebGuy]

Agreed, it's just personal preference.

I used to watch Tred Barta a couple years ago and he loved to lament about how every one else's way was easy and his was the only true way. Sure he made his bow, arrows and arrow heads but he is still on the shoulders of 1000s of years of hunters who have given him the technology (bow + arrow). Some people stand more on the shoulders of others and some less. It's just preference.

To some, real hunting might only be when you pick up a rock and smash an animal to death. To others it might be having a specialized weapon + transportation + shelter for each situation. I try to keep things as simple as possible but I also understand that I have limited time in the woods so I do need some aids to help me with success. If we all lived in the woods as the natives did, things would be different. But when you are a weekend warrior like I am, sometimes you need a crutch.

[leech~~]

I believe when you hunt its all about being outdoors such as sleeping in tents building a fire to keep warm, hunting from tree stands, and such and such. Alot of my friends try to go all out to get the easyest set up. Such things are tower stands enclosed inside a insulated box with a heater, ATV's for driving to the stand and back to camp, nice warm cabins to sleep in, anything at all possible to make it that much easyer. I think its a joke, hunting is not supose to be easy, in my sense is if you truly think hunting out of a tower stand inside a insulated box with a heater and its 70 degrees in their, your not truly a outdoorsman. I would not mind having an ATV but sometimes the old rope and muscle system to move downed game works plus you are truly challenging your limits. One said i have a shooting lane that i clear cut all the way down to 200 yards so i can get a better shot, I think thats just cheap and ruins the true meaning of hunting.

These are just my opinions but it bugs me when people complain about hunting when they have the most accessories to make it so easy, I always say its not supose to be easy when hunting thats the point of it.

what do you guys think is being too easy when hunting? Im talking about when ppl go out of their way to make it too easy to hunt or stay warm and make things too easy that the hunting part just dosnt sound as meaningful anymore.

It's a little like Fishing. Just because you have all the toys, it doesn't make them bite! You still have to put in the time out there and find them.

[whos_on_first]

Hunting became easy the day it turned from survival into a sport...IMHO. From that point on, anyone who made it "hard" only did so because they wanted to and enjoyed the experience.

But, don't tell my wife...I like a little extra pampering after a "hard" day in the woods!

[mrklean]

game farms thats when hunting becomes to easy they bring in animals starve them and wait till they go to the feeders

[CANOPY SAM]

I have to respect you, NaturesRespect. I believe you are somewhat like me - a "purist". Someone who appreciates the core nature of the activity.

Although I do have a few new-fangled gadgets, I often find them frustrating and unnecessary. Take my Marcum for example. I'd used other's electronics a few times previously, and thought they were fun and interesting, but was often frustrated seeing all those fish that wouldn't bite - so I never bought one. A good friend gave me one as a gift a few years back, nice gift, and I do enjoy using it, but I still wonder if I wouldn't be happier just catching the fish that bite, and not knowing about all the others that don't.

I like many of the answers given above. I don't think there's a definative line you can draw in the sand as to when it gets "too easy". I didn't think I'd ever own a 4-wheeler, but I'm sure glad I have one now. I'm 44 yrs. old today, and if I tried to drag a mature buck or bear more than 100 yds. alone I'd need someone else to drag me the remainder of the way back to the truck!

[DanOmite19]

Hunting becomes too easy when you hunt somewhere like some of the [PoorWordUsage]'s that are on TV. Nothing like going to a ranch or farm that actually has an INVENTORY of deer? Are you kidding me? How do you get excited to hunt when they tell what deer should show up at what time? A guy I know raises trophy deer and an outfitter from kansas came up and bought his biggest 4.5 yr old for $3,500... I can't imagine paying $5,000 just so I can shoot a 170in deer. Pathetic.

[Bear55]

There are three ways to shoot a big deer, hunt and scout hard, get lucky, or $$$$. I think I will stick to the first two.

[gurkster]

All personal preference - but for me less is more.

[NWBuck]

I frequently hunt out of an enclosed "tower" blind, and yes, when it's cold we are likely to start up a heater. Easy hunt? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. There wasn't anything "easy" about the building of the things, which took us hours of planning and construction, swatting mosquitoes, hitting our thumbs with a hammer, etc. I assume those against such enclosures only hunt out of treestands with no seats

Every thing is relative, and to each his own...

[Bear55]

I assume those against such enclosures only hunt out of treestands with no seats

They also walk up hill to their stand both ways and wouldn't dare drag out a deer with anything but a pair of boots and a rope.

[CANOPY SAM]

There's also a number of extenuating factors that play into what's easy for some, and not for others.

Age, overall health and fitness, eyesight, hearing, knowledge and experience, etc..

After many years of hunting and fishing, I've "learned" to hunt smarter, not harder. Once you get a pretty good understanding of your quarry, the hunt can get a lot easier then it was when you first started out.

Duck hunting for example. When I was a kid I slogged thru knee deep mud, carrying way too much gear, way out into the middle of the field. I nearly killed myself for an opportunity to harvest a duck.

Now I call them into a little slough with no decoys, right behind the barn, where I sit on a small comfy chair, and drop them on dry land so I don't have to get my toe-toes wet! Too easy, or just a much more energy efficient, and economical way to hunt?

Personally, I find it especially meaningful (in terms of ease) when I can bag a few ducks this way, all the while watching big $$$ truckloads of guys down the road, wearing their big $$$ hunting outfits, carrying their big $$$ guns, and screaming at their big $$$ trained dogs to retrieve the duck they just blew 9 big $$$ shells at.

Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy working at it. I just don't work at it as hard as I used to.

[Musky Buck]

I hear your point and understand what you mean, I still rough it sorta, no ATV, no roof on stand, very minimal shooting lanes, as little of technology as possible, but that's where we are in 2010, it's why I'm anti-baiting because I could likely tag the biggest buck on the farm if I waited about a week before deer opener and piled the apples and acorns high and arrowed him, heck our monster buck is showing up in our yard still eating acorns often before last light. If anything for me hunting has become way tougher, I'm after 1 buck only, a mature one, there are way less mature bucks in my hunting areas as every 3 acres seems to have those tower stands and 25 days of gun hunting compared to the 2 or 4 day zone 4 with no muzzy of the past. To get any deer would be easy for me and most of us. But, I don't know everyones circumstances, I want the elderly to still be in the field and the people who's health is a factor, etc. My uncle spent over 8 grand on his stand, helps him in ways but he loses the sound of nature and approaching deer, that stand has cost him a few large bucks over the years as his ability to hear is gone and those big guys don't seem to enjoy walking through those clear cut shooting lanes, yes times have changed and I to miss the old school deer hunting of the past, some still do it that way.

[LightningBG]

8 grand on a stand, huh?

Does it drive itself out there?

Any other secret perks this stand provides while sitting in it?